The present invention relates to window shades of the type in which lift cords are attached to the bottom rail and extend upwardly to a header and through a cord lock on the header with operating portions extending downwardly from the cord lock. The operating portions are manually pulled downwardly to raise the bottom rail and, when the bottom rail is fully raised, the operating portion of the lift cords will frequently extend below the window sill and even adjacent to or onto the floor. The low dangling cords not only present an untidy appearance, but also present a potential hazard to children who sometimes play with and become entangled with the cords.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,285 discloses a blind construction in which the operating portion of the lift cords is in the form of a loop and the lower end of the loop is attached to the bottom rail to be raised and lowered with the bottom rail. Since the lower end of the operating cord loop moves upwardly as the bottom rail is raised, this arrangement effectively overcomes the problem of dangling of the lift cord on or adjacent the floor when the bottom rail is raised. However, the operating cords when attached to the bottom rail, form a loop which could constitute a noose if a child places his head in the loop. Further, since the operating cords are connected into a continuous loop at their lower ends, the danger also exists that a child could be injured by placing his head between the interconnected operating cords.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,298 discloses a cord pull for detachably interconnecting the lower ends of the operating portions of the venetian blind lift cords. This is intended to allow the lower ends of the lift cords to separate when a force is applied to the cord pull at a location between the cords. In order to position the otherwise dangling ends of the cords at a safe vertical distance above the floor, this patent suggests wrapping the cords around the cord pull members and attaching the cord pull members to the headrail or to an upper portion of the window frame. However, this requires a special manual operation after the shade is raised in order to store the dangling ends of the lift cords, and a further manual operation to reverse the storage of the lift cords prior to lowering of the shade.